If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Freedom! Update 3!

Hey all, my last update was Oct. 2016 so thought I would drop in...
Biggest news is that we decided to move to a rural location (last estimate was a little over 900 people in this city), 5 hours from previous house, which we fixed up and sold this summer. We have been in new location for a few months now. Moved so we could be driving distance from our first grandchild! Bought a lovely new house which adjoins paved nature trails that go from town to town. Still unpacking and getting acclimated in between babysitting gigs. So far, cost of living seems lower. Property taxes and home insurance are significantly lower here. Home association fee is about a third of what we paid before. However our commuting costs are higher, as we have to drive 9 miles to the next town to shop, no public transportation, and about 40 minutes to baby sit once or twice a week (city where we can shop all the big box stores etc. if we want). It looks like it will all balance out. No ALDIS close by, but there are roadside veggie stands close that have cheap veggies and fruits. Moving costs, of course, took a huge bite out of our bank account. But this is one of those things that you can't put a monetary value on...being part of grandchildren's lives. The one big advantage of moving, is that it does encourage you to declutter. I am still working on it here; gave away a huge amount of stuff before and after the move, and am still purging. So cool! I love being at a place where I control my stuff, not the other way around! I love starting anew, getting rid of things that do not fit my new life and no longer want in it. Space is great! We are in a 1610 square foot house now, but when I am done downsizing I think we could very comfortably fit into a smaller place if and when we move again (no plans for that).
We got rid of most of our old furniture, and just bought new stuff on line. The old stuff would not have fit in here anyway. It has been fun finding relatively inexpensive new pieces, that we have assembled ourselves. Rather time consuming, as it seems more often that not, things arrived damaged and had to be returned. But it is working out and we are happy with our purchases.

Twice we have moved to be "close, but not too close" to grandkids. The town we presently live in has 2 traffic lights, and it is about 50 miles from the nearest Wal-Mart.

The one grocery store in town is spendy on the prices, and the Farmer's Market vendors are competing on the basis of freshness and wholesomeness more than price (one afternoon per week). I like to spend a certain amount locally, because it does translate into local jobs and property tax revenues for our town. But I am able to save on some purchases by ordering through Amazon Prime and CVS(dot)com. I was wary of CVS(dot)com at first, but as a repeat customer I am able to get 30% off the online shopping prices, if I go through a 10-minute survey when I receive my order. And if I spend over $50, shipping is free.

I found that I wait an incredibly long time to get a response from a tradesman. At one point I needed work done by a plumber. I got tired of leaving messages for him to call me back. I figured out where he was having lunch (I saw his truck with the business name on the door, parked outside a corner bar and grill around noon), so I stopped in, sat on a bar stool next to him, gave him my phone number, and made a personal appeal. That worked!

Interlibrary loans of reading materials and audiobooks have been awesome for us.

Congratulations! It's wonderful to be near family, and so glad it's working out, overall. If you are not working, and there's no stress, commenting isn't as big a deal. Enjoy your grandkids as much as you can! Thanks for the update!

"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Townwww.silententry.wordpress.com

It sounds like things are working out quite well, Packratona! Congratulations on the move.

If Americans expended even a fraction of the energy on civic engagement that we spend on consumer ideology, our democracy would be much healthier. Can you imagine people camping out to vote? -- Charles Roberts, Amherst, Mass., Nov. 25, 2006

Yes, housing is too high, and anyway we wanted out in a rural area for a change. We enjoy the deer, owls, etc. in our back yard, and the dark skies at night. Also not having to fight crazy traffic and crazy people ha ha!

I have lived in rural areas and they are nice for many of the things you have mentioned. We decided we wanted to be in town so close to everything. I hate to drive so would not want to make a long commute twice a week. Great that you can be by your grandchildren.

I have lived in rural areas and they are nice for many of the things you have mentioned. We decided we wanted to be in town so close to everything. I hate to drive so would not want to make a long commute twice a week. Great that you can be by your grandchildren.

Yes, this is kind of an experiment to see how we like it. Thus far it is working out well. We do like the privacy here actually; before we had people dropping in all the time (not family) and I don't miss that. Traffic here is very light and easy, straight shot, and where we have to commute to once a week we drive early and late enough to avoid the rush hour getting out of the city, and enjoy the scenic drive once we leave the city. We also enjoy the quiet, though the woods surrounding us are full of jungle noises at night.

One more thing we have discovered is that the health care if much much better where we are. Very much higher quality at the same price as we were paying in previous location for very inferior product. That alone is worth the move!